After months of research I don't feel as if I am any closer to solving my suspension problem. I want to get rid of about an inch or so of wheel gap and improve the comfort of the ride. I don't want the car riding on the bumpstops nor do I want it stiffer in any way. I will kill the runflats for sure, but if I can't find a solution to the wheel gap I will keep the stock height and the stock 16 inch wheels. I don't really want to put on bigger wheels without lowering as I feel it makes the gap even more obvious. I am basically happy with the cornering of the car in stock form. It will never been tracked as is our main source of transportation. Suspension guru's please chime in.

 

The only way to do this IMO is coilovers. KW Variant 1 will do the trick or the Eibach Pro Street S. DON'T get cheap crappy coilovers and expect them to be an improvement. You could also spend a lot more money.

- Andrew

 

Thanks Andrew. What are the most streetable coils? I don't mind spending some $$$, but if my wife thinks the car is to harsh I will be sleeping outside.

 

The KW V1 ride similar to stock [R56 base suspension]. The cheap V-Maxx coilovers do ride softer than stock but you also give up some overall handling prowess. They are cheap, but they offer the same total suspension stroke as stock and appear to be built reasonably well. The only other thing I can think of is to get a set of TSW-tuned KW V2 and put softer springs on them and tune the rebound damping adjustment accordingly, however that's an overly expensive and complicated route for a daily driver, IMO. Look into my review of the V-Maxx coilovers and see if that sounds like your cup of tea.

Cheers,
Ryan

 

Thanks Ryan. I think I may start backwards. I was at Passport Mini today and they had a JCW with 17's and it looked OK with the stock ride hight. I'm thinking of 17's without run flats then on to suspension.

 

1000% improvement with H&R Touring Cup kit on my car. Claimed 1.4" lowering at both sides, but it doesn't drop as much in the back and as such has somewhat of a "raked" appearance. This spring/shock combo is somewhat on the soft side for an aftermarket setup, and as such, ride quality (with runflats gone and replaced with 17's) is FAR FAR better than stock on runflats and the horrible stock suspension. Only $600 for this kit (Xmas special from Alta) and considering that includes OEM'd Koni Yellows for the shocks, and H&R "OE Sport" springs, it's a freakin' steal. Might just be what you're after. If you were local (I'm in the Phoenix area), I'd gladly let you sample it.

 

That may be just the ticket Kevin. No rubbing or bottoming out? DC road aren't the best.

 

Kevin did you ever run that kit with stock wheels/runflats? I admit I'm surprised you like it so much. Konis are good shocks but I wouldn't think a 1.4 inch drop would be anything but misery on any fixed perch strut.

- Andrew

 

No disrespect to those that have coilovers and like them but I COMPLETELY disagree.... coilovers do not make for a better "ride". They may handle better but the spring is what makes the ride, the coilover/shock just dampens the effects of going up and down.

If you want to lower your car and make your ride better, get some NM engr'ing springs. After trying many springs (I'm on my 4th mini in less than 2 years) I PROMISE you the best springs out there are the NM's.

I drive my car (well, let's see, I've had this '09 for about 8 months and have over 20K miles) and do multiple track days.

And after all that, I still would recommend the NM's.

HTH's,

Mark

 

I can second the NM Engineering springs. Still on RF tires, but ride is not as jolting as my sport springs were. Still running orignal shocks.

 

What about the 10 million threads on how limited the travel is on the stock shocks? If I lower on NM springs isn't the car then basically riding on the bump stops?

 

I don't find ANY sensation of hitting/riding on the bump stops - ever. Zero rubbing under any circumstances. RARELY I can scrape the underside of the front end if exiting a steep driveway, but barely so. Most of the time, I don't even have to be careful to avoid it.

The roads here in Phoenix are probably among the best in the country - smooth as glass for the most part and very well-maintained. Enough so that my M Coupe was my daily driver (and only car) for over 2 years. I could NEVER have used it as my only car if I were still living in SoCal - I'd have been beaten to death! So - you might have some issues on really bad roads. But I can't imagine it being bad, because this seems to be such a good compromise between comfort, better handling, and lowering.

 

No, wheels/tires came first. I HAD to have the runflats off the car in the first week - they truly ruin the car's ride and handling. The stock suspension tuning is seriously compromised in a futile effort to minimize the negative effects of the runflats. The end result is disastrous, IMHO.

If anyone is in the Phoenix area and would like to test drive my setup, send me a PM and I'll hook you up.

 

Thanks again for the input Kevin. Interesting comment about the runflats. I suspect I should start with wheels and tires (or just tires) and use that as my "control". I'm also thinking that if the Cup struts are just yellows painted silver I may be better off with NM springs and yellows. Less drop=more travel (I think)=better for lousy roads.

NAM members are the best!

 

There are a lot of coilovers that totally suck....on the other hand I've been in cars with spring rates twice as high as stock that ride better than stock. Can't lump them all in the same category. And the damper has a HUGE effect on ride quality.

It's on them stock....

You don't feel an impact when hitting the bumpstops, the first progression is soft and they're designed to be used. I suspect the 1.4 inch drop won't feel good on roads that are not glass smooth. Bring that to even the suburbs of DC and you'd be in for a world of hurt. :(

I do think that a mild drop (1 inch at MOST) spring with increased rates (at least 200 lbs/in) on Koni Yellows would feel pretty good. So I'm not 100% anti lowering spring.

- Andrew

 

Just installed BC Type R coil-overs. What is the stock ride height for front and rear ? and what is a good ride height for these coil-overs ?

 

Anyone know the spring rate on NM's?

 

Orengecrush - that's a good looking car you have there... Based on the overwhelming positive feedback on NMs I'm ordering a set for my car next week.

 

The springs are definitely an excellent mod. I've been going to the track for about 2 years now and I'm finally breaking down and getting some coilovers.

I still believe that coilovers won't give you the ride a set of springs would but I've had a quite a few people that have been very pleased with coilovers so we'll see.

I need something better for the track so I guess I'll have to sacrifice some ride.

Mark

 

Thanks for your great input, Orangecrush (and others on this thread).

I am also in the market for some suspension upgrades. I also commute about 25k a year. I'm looking for some handling improvement, but also some comfortability.

Orangecrush, when you said that you think coilovers won't give you the ride of a set of springs, are you saying that the NM springs will be more comfortable than coilovers? I'm assuming the handling should be better with coilovers than the springs. I just want to weigh my options, especially if I'm sitting in the thing on the highways.

So for handling:
Coilovers > Springs > Stock

Long distance driving comfort:
Stock (non runflats) > NM Springs > Coilovers

Would this be correct?

 

I really have to stress that there is a huge range in comfort and handling between different types of coilovers, without getting into brands. A coilover is not automatically better (or worse) than stock or springs. There are coilovers that are absolutely terrible, in both handling and ride quality. Some coilovers ride really really well. There are more motorsports oriented coilovers, street oriented coilovers, coilovers that do a little of both well, and coilovers that just plain suck all the time.

I'd say the same can be said about springs, to an extent.

- Andrew

 

Andrew is right... I completely agree. Having said that, let me clarify...

In general, you will find that coilsprings are much more comfortable than coil overs.

The NM engr'ing springs are extremely comfortable and handle very well. I'm looking for coilovers only because I do so many track days, I'm just not sure I want to sacrifice my ride since it's still my daily driver.

Bottom line, if you're not doing track days, etc, it shouldn't be an option, just go with the springs you're comfortable with.

Mark

 

Yep Orangecrush is correct about the NM springs. I installed the NM springs about three weeks ago and commute about 50 miles every day. The ride and handling improvement is simply amazing. I did also add Bilstein's too. It is like driving a different car. All I can say is why did I wait this long to make the change.

 

Did you have to buy rear control arms for alignment with the NW springs?

 

No rear control arms were needed. There was enough adjustability with the factory adjuster to get the rear aligned. The mini drives better now than it did before my changes.